NEW YORK CITY, N.Y. — Papa John’s Founder John Schnatter resigned as chairman of the board after his name hit headlines for using the N-word during a conference call.

Papa John’s International, Inc. announced Schnatter’s resignation Wednesday, adding that the company plans to appoint a new chairman of the board in coming weeks.

Schnatter admitted to using the world in the May conference call, according to Wednesday report by Forbes, and issued an apology.

Schnatter utted the phrase on a call with a marketing agency meant as a role-playing exercise to help the founder avoid future public relations messes, Forbes reported, like the one last year when he blamed the NFL’s national anthem kneeling controversy for declining pizza sales.

During the call, sources say, Schnatter attempted to downplay his NFL comments by noting that “Colonel Sanders [of KFC] called blacks n*****s” and never faced backlash for it.